New EPA rules call for cleaner gas and vehicles

Friday

Mar 29, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 29, 2013 at 12:01 PM

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency will move ahead today with a rule requiring cleaner gasoline and lower-pollution vehicles nationwide, amounting to one of President Barack Obama's most-significant air-pollution initiatives, according to people briefed on the decision.

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency will move ahead today with a rule requiring cleaner gasoline and lower-pollution vehicles nationwide, amounting to one of President Barack Obama’s most-significant air-pollution initiatives, according to people briefed on the decision.

The standards would add less than a penny a gallon to the cost of gasoline while delivering an environmental benefit akin to taking 33 million cars off the road, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made yet.

Oil-industry officials, however, said the cost would be at least double the administration’s estimate, and could add up to 9 cents a gallon in some places.

The proposed standards, which had been stuck in regulatory limbo since 2011, would reduce the amount of sulfur in U.S. gasoline by two-thirds and impose fleet-wide pollution limits on new vehicles by 2017.

The Obama administration’s decision to go ahead with the regulations deals a blow to the oil and gas industry, which had mobilized dozens of lawmakers to lobby for a one-year delay.

It also comes as the administration angered many environmentalists by weighing a delay in limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from new power plants. Unlike the sulfur limits, the administration has argued, the power plant limits could immediately hurt the struggling economy.

While gasoline sulfur itself does not pose a public-health threat, it hampers the effectiveness of catalytic converters, which in turn leads to greater tailpipe emissions. These emissions — nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and fine particles — contribute to smog and soot, which can cause respiratory and heart disease.

The proposed standards were first reported by The Washington Post yesterday afternoon and confirmed by the administration last night.

The regulations are supported by environmental advocates, state regulators and even automobile companies, which would prefer uniform sulfur standards for fuel nationwide. But oil-industry officials and their congressional allies say it will cost up to $10 billion to upgrade refineries and an additional $2.4 billion in annual operating costs.

Both public-health advocates and the administration say the ultimate cost would be much lower because of provisions giving refiners flexibility in complying with the standards. The EPA estimates annual health benefits of up to $23 billion by 2030.

The agency surveyed 111 U.S. refineries and found 29 already can meet the sulfur standard or come close to it; 66 can reach it with modest modifications; and 16 would require a major overhaul.

The requirements potentially cut major contributors to smog-forming ozone and pollution — nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, or soot — by 80 percent and 70 percent, respectively, the administration official said.

“There is not another air-pollution control strategy that we know of that will produce as substantial, cost-effective and expeditious emissions reductions,” said S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies.

Automakers support the rule in part because they must already meet stricter emissions standards in California.

“Cleaner cars will need the cleaner fuels already on sale across Europe and Asia,” said Auto Alliance spokeswoman Gloria Bergquist, whose group represents several major automakers. “And the best part of these low-sulfur fuels is that they provide clean-air benefits to all 250 million vehicles on the road right away from day one at the gas pumps.”

Charles Drevna, president for the American Fuel and Petroleum Manufacturers, said the EPA is not obligated under the Clean Air Act to reduce the sulfur content of gas any further. U.S. refiners have lowered gasoline sulfur nearly 90 percent since 2004, according to the association.

“Those remaining molecules of sulfur that are left, those little buggers don’t want to come out easily,” Drevna said. “This is an all-cost and no-benefit regulation.”

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.